Growing our Tribe

During his first weeks, he was oblivious to the noise and activity of his brothers as he slept and fed the days away.

During his first months, his eyes would follow his brothers around a room. Interested, but always slightly bemused and bewildered by their crazy hijinks.

But since he turned six months, something has changed.

He beams as soon as he sees his siblings. His legs kick out with the urge to propel himself forward towards them. He wants to be part of the action. He gets it. They are the fun ones.

Recently I watched as the boys played together. All three of them. For a full hour.

Otto had been lying under the table batting away at his toys where we’d created a makeshift baby gym for him (poor deprived third baby). Suddenly, he was joined by two bigger shapes, at first helping him play with his toys, which then evolved into constructing walls around them out of foam squares, so the table became a house.

Otto’s face was a mix of adoration and glee – he was so happy to be in the midst of his brothers’ hive of activity for once. Arlo was the dad, Rory was the mum, and Otto was, yep you guessed it, the baby.

Arlo and Rory have always been a pair, their routines and interaction with each other so well established. I’ve been finding it hard to imagine how that will change to incorporate a third sibling. And I guess I always sort of imagine Otto as the baby, perhaps a bit on the sidelines compared to the older two.

It won’t always be this way, I know it will change as he gets older and they find their new dynamic. And I think this was my very first glimpse into the future, of our life with three children, rather than two children and a baby